Meatless, Tuesday

SOL Day 16

Like many others, I have started incorporating meatless dinners a few times a week.  I'm always looking for recipes to see the ingredients and then I put my own twist on it.  The down side to this however, it's hard to share recipes to people that like the exact ingredients along with the exact amount of each.  Last night's dinner, stir fry veggies and quinoa.  If you are not familiar with quinoa, here are 7 reasons to start incorporating it into your diet.  Just remember, quinoa alone doesn't have a lot of flavor but when mixed with other foods . . . very yummy!

Here are seven health benefits of quinoa:
• Quinoa is one of the most protein-rich foods we can eat. ... 
• Quinoa contains almost twice as much fiber as most other grains. ... 
• Quinoa contains Iron. ... 
• Quinoa contains lysine. ... 
• Quinoa is rich in magnesium. ... 
• Quinoa is high in Riboflavin (B2). ... 
• Quinoa has a high content of manganese.

Now for the "recipe":
-cook a cup of quinoa according to directions (instead of water I use organic chicken stock)
-heat olive oil and salute a few cloves of garlic
-add a chopped onion and cook for a few minutes . . . until onions are translucent
-add veggies of your choice- I used fresh chopped broccolini, cauliflower, yellow and green zucchini, carrots, and asparagus.
While veggies are cooking, I added some of my favorite spices,such as ginger, turmeric, salt, pepper and a little crushed hot pepper.
When veggies are done to your liking, add the cooked quinoa.  Stir it up and enjoy!

Little Big Shots

SOL Day 15

I'm not a huge TV watcher but every once in a while there's a show that I have to talk about.  Just recently, I fell upon the show called, Little Big Shots.  The show is hosted by one of my favorite TV personalities, Steve Harvey.  If you are not familiar with him, he is hysterical and seems to be a down to earth sort of guy.  His humor reminds me of a male Ellen Degeneres, whom I also love!  Anyway, back to the show.  The premise of the show is, Steve showcases kids' from all over the world and their sometimes very unusual yet amazing talents none the less.  That in itself is makes a great show considering some of the talented kids I've seen, but now add the quick wit, hilarious facial expressions of Steve, mixed with "kids saying the darnedest things" and you have the perfect recipe for laughs!  So, if you are in need of a smile, a chuckle or even a belly aching laugh tune in to Little Big Shots on Sunday night! You won't be disappointed!

My Zen Place

SOL Day 14

Today we took a break from our normal workout routine and met a friend for a hike.  Marcy, was actually the realtor that sold us our land here in New Mexico almost 13 years ago.  The first time we came out and met, we really connected with her.  Throughout the years we would keep in touch and whenever we were out for a visit we made sure to get together with her.  We try and meet a few times a month to walk and of course other times to eat.  It's a great way fit in exercise and catch up.  Our usual spot to meet, is also one of my favorite trails on the Bosque.  Parts of the trail are overgrown with brush, parts run along the river and up at the top there are horse and tree farms in clear view.  It's such a peaceful almost zen feeling when I'm there!  Sometimes we are lucky to see an eagle or hawk, a few roadrunners and even coyotes!  Luckily, the coyotes kept their distance.

The Rent Collector

SOL Day 13

Yesterday was one of those days.  It didn't start out that way until I thought I would read for a just a little while.  I had just started The Rent Collector by Camron Wright the day before, and since  the weather wasn't all that nice, I thought why not spend a small amount of time reading.  Well, I could not put the book down!  I kept saying, one more page, one more paragraph, one more chapter. . . and before I knew it I was saying, only 100 pages left, only 50 pages left, heck I'm almost done!  If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it!  A beautiful story which parallels life with the meaning of Literature.  Such a powerful story, and the characters, left me in awe!  One word . . . AMAZING!

Book Club

SOL Day 12

When we moved out to New Mexico almost 2 years ago, we decided to have a "get to know your neighbors" get together.  The night of the event we asked if anyone was interested in joining a co-ed book club.  We had several people that were interested and in time a few more joined giving us a group of about 10-14 people. The great thing is we have become good friends with most of the people, getting together socially for other activities besides book club!  We meet about every 4-5 weeks to discuss the book, share a meal together and just enjoy each others company. We have had some very interesting conversations/debates and last night was no exception.  Our book was The Dinner by the Dutch author, Herman Koch.  We all agreed the book was quite dark, but the discussion became quite lively with the question, "how far would you go to protect your child even if he/she did something unspeakable?"  In the end, we all agreed thank goodness none of us had to carry out how we felt.  But it really had me thinking . . . what would you do?